I’m a born and bred Southern California girl, who became an unexpected Manitoba girl when I went and fell in love with a Winnipegger. I invite you to join me on this journey of adjustment and adventure as I learn to adapt my passion for cooking, baking, gardening and interior design, to this very different culture and climate. Just click on the ‘follow’ button!

Burger Week 2016 – Winnipeg (Chapter 2)

Welcome to chapter two of our Burger Week 2016 adventures here in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Below are the next ten offerings that we sampled from the 29 restaurants we patronized during this event, with a total of 59 establishments participating. For those of you who followed chapter one of this story, after consuming 10 burgers in a just a couple of days, you’ll notice in this post that Darren’s critiques are beginning to get a bit cheeky. Too much of a good thing sometimes has that effect. Hahaha…. Enjoy!

Darren’s critique: I like shawarma meat when I have it, but I only like to have it maybe once a year, like nutmeg at Christmas or anise at any point. I’m not a fan of chickpeas as I figure any food that has to try to trick you into eating it by claiming another cool name, like garbanzo beans, wasn’t good enough to begin with. (See also: eggplant/aubergine).

This was well done. Light soft bun, even though toasted, great patty and cheese and a sauce that brings the heat but with the coolness of the cucumbers for balance. Their best entry of the years they’ve been in it. 4 out of 5 stars.

Darren’s critique: There was some heat to this, though not as much as the shawarma. I honestly didn’t pick up the flavours and textures as much as their description of the burger suggested. After analyzing the burger, the radish and crispy onions were nowhere to be found, so I’m not sure if I can trust other parts of it. It was tasty though. I’d say 2 1/2 out of 5 stars, but the mini-bottle of ketchup supplied raises it to a 3. Yes, I can be easily bribed.

Darren’s critique: A decent burger. I always have to take off points for giving options on how you want it since there isn’t a standard experience for everyone to judge the burger by. There was some kind of spice on here that I still can’t place… or decide if I liked it. 3 out of 5 stars.

Darren’s critique: I quite liked this one. The bacon was done excellently, the beet wasn’t overwhelming but helped cut the salty and savoury of the bacon. The egg wasn’t very noticeable but gave a little creaminess to the burger. No particular ingredient was overwhelming, instead they worked as a cohesive whole to give a pleasurable experience. 4 1/4 out of 5 stars.

The FrenchieLe Garage Restaurant

8oz Juicy beef patty grilled to perfection and covered in melted Brie cheese. Topped with a mushroom duxelles for a hint of red wine and cream. Crispy lemon onion strings, lettuce and tomato all served on a fresh warm bun.

Darren’s critique: A good burger from a perennially solid contender. The brie and mushrooms worked well together. While there wasn’t anything wrong with this burger, I’m not sure there was anything that really put it over the top either. 4 1/4 out of 5 stars.

Darren’s critique: I actually wasn’t looking forward too much to this burger as I’m not a fan of bison meat in general. I’ve had it a couple of times before and not been too impressed. I was pleasantly surprised by this one though as it didn’t have the off-putting quality of previous bison burgers I’ve had. 4 out of 5 stars for me.

Darren’s critique: I like what they were trying to do here with making the burger into a kind of Manitoba-style tourtière. It came with a hot mustard to dip it in. The mac and cheese seemed very superfluous and deducted points for me. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Darren’s critique: I was only able to have one bite of this when it was semi-fresh and thought on that bite that it was better than the other Nuburger location’s entry. Reheating this one made it absolutely inedible. 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Darren’s critique: I was kind of expecting to just be tasting a larger sized Nip. Anyone worth their salt who lives here has tried a Sals’ Nip at least once. It had some of the nip taste (the bun, patty and sauce) but veered into a bit of a different direction that I thought wasn’t as good as a regular nip. The bacon was a little more to the chewy side than crisp, but that was offset by the crispy onions on top. You don’t want to overcrunch your burger. A solid 4 out of 5 stars. (Jen’s note: Not having been tainted by apparent memories of the “after last call” munchies at Salisbury House in the wee hours of long ago Saturday mornings, I thought this burger was FABULOUS!)

Darren’s critique: This burger tasted exactly how I thought it would taste. It’s Mediterranean springtime on a warm day. Ingredients that I use in a Greek pasta salad (red onion, cucumber, tomato and feta) along with a bun, patty and the great tzaziki sauce. I enjoyed it. Points off for it being a regular item on the menu. 4 out of 5 stars.